Legal

A Utah-based retailer of outdoor and mountaineering gear has filed a federal lawsuit against L.L.Bean, alleging that its recent marketing campaign slogan, “Be an Outsider,” infringes on a trademark registered in August. Alfwear, which sells outdoor clothing under the name KÜHL, claimed in its Oct. 2 lawsuit that it has been using the phrase “the outsider”…

Amazon.com has been ordered to pay 250 million euros ($294 million) to Luxembourg after the European Commission (EC) found that the online retailer received illegal tax benefits. The EC says Amazon received tax advantages between 2006 and 2014 in the country without any "valid justification." Margrethe Vestager, the EU's commissioner for competition, said in a statement,…

Sears Holdings Corp. is getting another cash infusion from CEO Edward Lampert, just in time for the key holiday season. Lampert has agreed to loan Sears $100 million through his ESL Investments fund — if the retailer agrees to pledge more stores or other assets as collateral. The agreement, disclosed in a recent filing with…

Serta Simmons is suing Bob's Discount Furniture for false advertising. The Chicago Tribune reports the lawsuit, filed last week in Chicago, alleges Bob’s took a mattress comparison too far when it said its Black Label Gel mattresses had essentially the same components as Simmons’ Beautyrest Black mattresses, except for the “fancy logo” and the price.…

Target is giving thousands of its employees a raise. The retailer announced this week that it will start raising its minimum wage next month to $10 an hour, and will eventually raise it to $11 an hour for all U.S. stores. "Target has always offered market-competitive wages to our team members," Brian Cornell, Target’s CEO,…

On Wednesday, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp. and PepsiCo Inc. joined a group of nearly 800 companies calling for U.S. legislation to protect immigrants brought into the country illegally by their parents from deportation. Reuters reports the retailers and other companies are asking Congress to pass a permanent replacement for DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood…

Toys“R”Us, one of the world’s largest toy store chains, has filed for bankruptcy protection, becoming the latest casualty of the pressures facing brick-and-mortar retailers. The company made the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing late Monday night in federal court in Richmond, Va., acknowledging that it needed to revamp its long-term debt totaling more than $5 billion. Toys"R"Us said…

Review the top retail industry news of the week in this episode of Retail Right Now, including a potential bankruptcy filing by Toys"R"Us; Amazon.com being accused of price gouging as Hurricane Irma prepares to make landfall in Florida; and Amazon facing a class-action lawsuit over selling eclipse glasses that weren't safe for users.

A new piece of legislation working its way through Congress could alter the way commercial companies sell everyday products and services to the U.S. military and federal agencies. The bill, passed by the House of Representatives earlier this year, would allow the Pentagon and other government agencies to buy directly from online marketplaces like Amazon.com,…

Amazon.com has been hit with a proposed class-action lawsuit by a couple who claims defective eclipse glasses purchased through the online retailer damaged their eyes. In the lawsuit, filed in federal court in South Carolina on Tuesday evening, Corey Payne and his fiancée, Kayla Harris, said they purchased a three-pack of eclipse glasses on Amazon in early…